[Neil Sharpe]

"Free jazz... A deeply experimental music, it dismantled the tonal and rhythmic conventions established by previous iterations of jazz—bebop, cool, and swing. Its radical spirit coincided with the calls for social, economic, and political revolution that defined American life.... For some, this new music was sacrilegious. Early jazz had translated the blues for middle-class sensibilities, but free jazz departed from the legible sounds of the past—sounds that no longer aligned with how musicians were feeling. Jazz artists were seeking a more personal style, and in this tumultuous era, the mode was by any means necessary..."

In Fire Music, a 2018 film that draws from archival footage and in-depth interviews from free jazz’s golden age, [Ornette} Coleman mentions a moment in the 1960s when he was dragged off stage and beaten in the back of a New York club for playing the way he did. This kind of backlash also affected the career of another brilliant saxophonist, Eric Dolphy, whom the film brings to life through a recounting of a time when he walked into a club in Germany for a gig, carrying a copy of a 1964 issue of Downbeat in which Miles Davis unequivocally denigrates his playing. A witness to the actual incident remembers that Dolphy went backstage and started binging on sweets until he went into a diabetic coma. He did not survive..."
Their Sounds Were Watching God

Also:
Free Jazz on Film part 1 - The Buzz: The JJA Podcast

 

[Uwe Steinmetz]

Super, many thanks for these links and the information!!

 

[etc-etc]

This is such a terrible story.

 

[Zasterz]

I don’t think that story is confirmed? From what I’ve been able to find online, he was an undiagnosed diabetic who collapsed in Berlin either backstage or at a hotel room after a gig and some reports that the doctors assumed it was drugs so didn’t treat him properly? But it seems like one of those things where no one really knows what happened. This blurb makes it sound like he was so distraught by criticism that he deliberately offed himself via sweets which seems like taking some liberties with the known facts!

 

[Travsax]

I don’t think that story is confirmed? From what I’ve been able to find online, he was an undiagnosed diabetic who collapsed in Berlin either backstage or at a hotel room after a gig and some reports that the doctors assumed it was drugs so didn’t treat him properly? But it seems like one of those things where no one really knows what happened. This blurb makes it sound like he was so distraught by criticism that he deliberately offed himself via sweets which seems like taking some liberties with the known facts!

Right, and the “binging on sweets” part may even be true, and not out of the norm due to his undiagnosed diabetes. The story I heard about Dolphy is that he drank an entire jar of honey before every gig.

 

[Zasterz]

Right, and the “binging on sweets” part may even be true, and not out of the norm due to his undiagnosed diabetes. The story I heard about Dolphy is that he drank an entire jar of honey before every gig.

I actually don't know much about diabetes-- does it actually make people crave sweets or is it just that a person's run-of-the-mill sweet-cravings are potentially deadlier?

 

[Travsax]

I actually don't know much about diabetes-- does it actually make people crave sweets or is it just that a person's run-of-the-mill sweet-cravings are potentially deadlier?

I don’t know either, but I always assumed the condition must have an effect on appetite since the blood sugar is affected due to the lack of insulin. I guess there are stronger swings between high and low blood sugar?

 

[hnthere]

I don't know where I read it (or if I'm imagining it) but I think I've read that Eric Dolphy led a relatively healthy lifestyle on account of being diabetic and that the "undiagnosed diabetes" refers to the failure of local medical providers to recognize what was going on. I've never the seen the binged-on-sweets story before, but I've never dug into the details of his final hours.

I didn't begin my immersion into edgy jazz until late in life and I can't even begin to convey the sadness I felt upon learning he had died so long before. I learned maybe 20 years ago when I looked online to see if he still toured.

 

[allenlowe]

Jaki Byard, who knew and worked with Dolphy, told me that when Dolphy got sick the locals in Germany thought he ws a junkie in withdrawal, and so didn't deal with the diabetes (which, apparently, Dolphy himself had largely neglected). And so, untreated, he died. Jaki was pretty bitter about this, thinking it was a racist assumption that led to Dolphy's death.

 

[Zasterz]

Jaki Byard, who knew and worked with Dolphy, told me that when Dolphy got sick the locals in Germany thought he ws a junkie in withdrawal, and so didn't deal with the diabetes (which, apparently, Dolphy himself had largely neglected). And so, untreated, he died. Jaki was pretty bitter about this, thinking it was a racist assumption that led to Dolphy's death.

That’s pretty much how Wikipedia has it too I think. It just isn’t clear whether he himself knew he had it.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I actually don't know much about diabetes-- does it actually make people crave sweets or is it just that a person's run-of-the-mill sweet-cravings are potentially deadlier?

No.
I'm Type 2 diabetic (adult onset). I don't know if Eric Dolphy was Type 1 or Type 2 but in either case, I don't think that diabetes makes you crave sweets any more than non-diabetics. And no, I don't think that a diabetic person's run-of-the-mill sweet-cravings are potentially deadlier. Yes, diabetic coma can lead to death in some instances, especially if not treated. If Dolphy's coma was not treated, that would be the cause of his death. If it's true, as said in a previous post, the Dolphy drank a whole jar of honey before gigs, that certainly would have contributed to his developing (undiagnosed?) diabetes.

I don’t know either, but I always assumed the condition must have an effect on appetite since the blood sugar is affected due to the lack of insulin. I guess there are stronger swings between high and low blood sugar?

My diabetes does not affect my appetite. Whether my blood sugar is up or down does not affect my appetite. Mostly what affects my appetite is how long it's been since I last ate something. In other words – hunger, same as for nondiabetics.

 

[allenlowe]

That’s pretty much how Wikipedia has it too I think. It just isn’t clear whether he himself knew he had it.

there have been accounts by his friends in California that Dolphy had some idea of his condition but just didn't pay attention to it -

 

[MartinMusicMan]

there have been accounts by his friends in California that Dolphy had some idea of his condition but just didn't pay attention to it -

That's very likely the case. I know other diabetics who don't pay attention to it. One person I know made a conscious decision not to do anything about his diabetes. He later died as a consequence of that decision.

We each probably know some people who don't pay attention to their health conditions -- heart, blood pressure, weight, etc. It's not uncommon. I know people who decided not to pay attention to their cancer. It is a decision that one can rationally make, especially if you know that treatment is going to be an awful experience and reduce your quality of life to near zero while extending your life by a few months or a year.

But if Dolphy knew he had diabetes and ignored it, that's a damn shame because he probably could have lived a much longer–and creative–life.

 

[Zasterz]

there have been accounts by his friends in California that Dolphy had some idea of his condition but just didn't pay attention to it -

Pretty normal for people in their 20’s to be lax with this stuff. You’re just starting to get used to not being invincible around 30… (at least I was!)

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Yeah, it took me until I was in my 60's

 

[AddictedToSax]

No.
I'm Type 2 diabetic (adult onset). I don't know if Eric Dolphy was Type 1 or Type 2 but in either case, I don't think that diabetes makes you crave sweets any more than non-diabetics. And no, I don't think that a diabetic person's run-of-the-mill sweet-cravings are potentially deadlier. Yes, diabetic coma can lead to death in some instances, especially if not treated. If Dolphy's coma was not treated, that would be the cause of his death. If it's true, as said in a previous post, the Dolphy drank a whole jar of honey before gigs, that certainly would have contributed to his developing (undiagnosed?) diabetes.
My diabetes does not affect my appetite. Whether my blood sugar is up or down does not affect my appetite. Mostly what affects my appetite is how long it's been since I last ate something. In other words – hunger, same as for nondiabetics.

There are three classic signs for diabetes but not everyone has them. They are referred to as the three Ps of diabetes. ItI remember from college biochem classes or something.

Polyuria - increased urination
Polyphagia - increased hunger
Polydipsia - increased thirst.

He may have had increased hunger that made him crave the honey. Who knows. I don’t think many people have much of an idea about how devastating diabetes can be. There should be more education about it.

 

[Merlin]

Dolphy lived in the era before personal glucometers were available. It’s much easier for diabetics, both Type I and II to monitor their condition these days.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Dolphy lived in the era before personal glucometers were available. It’s much easier for diabetics, both Type I and II to monitor their condition these days.

That's true. It's also much easier (and cheaper) to get medications for diabetes. There are several types. And there are insulin injection pens that are much easier and more convenient to use. I don't know what it was like being diabetic in Dolphy's day. I think that managing your diabetes then would be much more difficult and expensive than it is today.